Pipe-bowl cleaner



July 14, 1925.

H. GESSLER PIPE BOWL CLEANER Filed Jan. 28, 1925 lNVENTOR Patented July 14, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT or rice.

nanny" eEssLER, or new xo'nx, N. Y,, sstsuon or TWENTY-FIVE PER CENT ro WIL IAM OGE E EW res I rBQ L CLEANER- .{lpplication filed January 28, 1925. .Serial No. 5,215.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY GEssLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, borough of Manhattan, in

the county of N ewv York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-BowlCleariers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to smokers appliances and has particular reference to a simple implement or device for scraping and cleansing the inner wall of the bowlof a smoking pipe.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a device ofthecliaracter indicated that will be both simple and cheapin con struction and of utmost reliability or efficacy in practice irrespective of the size or form of the pipe bowl to be cleansed.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in View the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practi-' cal embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of a pipe bowl showing my improved cleaner in opera-tive position.

Figs. Q'and 3 are flat blanks of the two parts constituting the complete device.

' Fig. 4 is a front elevation.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation, full and dotted lines showing two ditler'ent positions of the scraping members.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional detail on the line 66 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a d iagram indicating the range of practical operation of the device in relation to the pipe bowl of extremely large or small diameter, the scale of the figure being large to better show the scraping'action.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings 1 show my device as adapted to be inserted endwise directly into the bowl B of a smoking pipe, the device consisting of two relatively simple parts 10 and 11 both stamped or otherwise formed directly from sheet material such, as steel of uniform thickness, thus msuring that the construction is of the simplest and. cheapest nature in. soy far as the material and manner of formation are concerned.

Eachof the members aforesaid includes a scraping element and a finger piece.v The member 10 thus comprises a blade 12. of flat form and arranged in a plane radial with respect to the main verticalaxisof the device, but having along its inner edge a reinforcement flange .13." The upperoend of the blade 12may be cut and turned from the plane of the finger piece 14, along a line 15 of the blank shownin Fig 2. Adjacent to the lower edge .portions of the finger piece 14 are formed two bearing slots 16 spaced equally from opposite sides of the vertical center of the finger piece and in the same line perpendicular to said axis. Afterthe member. 10 is formed from the flat blank as is shown in Fig. 2 it is shaped to bring the blade 12 into a plane at right angles to the remainder ofthevmember, the plane thereof coinciding with theaxis aforesaid and as shown in Figs. .4 and 5. I It is preferred also that a stiffening ribbe formed downwardalong the centerof the finger piece as shown at 17,said rib running into the blade portion I The ot-herpart of the device is stamped flat as shown in Fig. 3 and comprises a doublevblade portion 18 and a finger piece 19, the general form of which is similar to the finger piece 1 1. The two edge portions ofthe blade section 18 are of equal width and are symmetrical withrespect-to the vertical axis of the member and extend laterally from said axis in opposite directions. This finger piece 19 also is prefer ably provided with a stiffening rib 20 ex tending downward along said axis. At the upper end of this rib or at any other con venient point is formed a hole 21 for attachment of thedevice to a key ring or the like. Instead of slots 16 this finger piece 19 is provided with bearing studs 22 struck out from the body of the finger piece remote from its edges and adapted in the com pleted articleto stand substantially at right angles to the plane of the finger piece 19.

Each stud or fulcrum includes a pair of shoulders 23 between which are one or more tongues 24 which project. through the slots 16 and are bent over or upset at the front side of the finger piece 14: for the purpose of holding the parts together while the inner face of the finger piece 1 1 has a rocking action upon said shoulders, an action that is very easy because the bearing shoulders act substantially as a knife edge bearing, the line of all the shoulders constituting the axis of the hinge connecting the two members. It will of course be understood that the slots 16 are slightly wider than the thickness of the metal of the tongues and that the tongues are long enough to permit free rocking movement. See Fig. 5. The neck portions 25 of the bearing studs are integral with the lower edge portions of the finger piece 19 and are located at about the same position with respect to the finger piece 19 as are the slots: 16 in the other finger piece. In addition to the striking out of the studs 22, the blade portion 18 of the member 11 is convexed toward the central axis of the device, the cross section being of anysuitable form or curvature and with the edges of these blade portions left sharp and square as formed by the stamping dies.

The point portions of all the scraping blades 12 and 18 are rounded but narrow enough for the points thereof to venter freely to the bottom of the smallest pipe. bowl when the device is inserted directly thereinto as suggested in Fig. 1. After being so'inserted'to the bottom of the bowl the finger pieces of the device are grasped between the thumb and finger of either hand while the pipe is held in the other and and a relative rotation betweenthe' scraper and the bowl is then given. The grasp of the device between the thumb and finger will insure directly and practically automatically the spreading contact of the point portions of the scraping blades as suggested by dotted lines in Fig. 5, according to the form of the bowl and with a force proportional to the pressure applied upon the outer surfaces ofthe finger pieces. In other words, the greater thepressure upon the finger pieces, the more intensive will be the scraping action on the interior of the bowl. In the case of a large bowl, any portions of the inner surface thereof that are not scraped when the device is introduced as deep as'it may go will be reached and scraped bya c011- tinued rotation of the device in the bowl and 'withdrawal thereof upward from the bottom'of'the bowl; The diagram of Fig. '7

a shows in full lines the action-ofthe-scraping edges aand a, all three 'of which edges are sure 7 to --engage the interior surfaces, whilein dotted lines is-shown the action-of the scraping blades on the surface of a small mamas bowl. The action of the edge a is practically the same in all sizes of bowls, but by comparison of the action of the edges a on the large and small bowls, it will be observed that one of the edges wmay have a more effective scraping action than the other, but the edge that is the more effective will. depend upon the size of the bowl. More specifically'stated, when operating upon a large bowl the leading edge on the concave side of the blade 18 will have a sharper cutting effect than the trailing edge, whereas in the small bowl the leading edge on the convex side will have a more direct cutting action. Hence each portion of the doubleblade has two scraping edges a selectively operative according to variations in diameter of the bowl B. But as before premised in all cases all three blade portions contribute toward the desired result as a result of the pres sure appliedv by the thumb and finger on the finger pieces.

It will thus be noted that the device consists of but two parts which are made readily and cheaply as by stamping from sheet metal of uniform thickness and with bearing means stamped out at an angle from one of the parts and serving as fulcrums' or pivot means upon which the other part-is mounted or hinged loosely for tilting around the axis of the articulation, the two parts acting in this manner as levers of the first class. I

r I claim: Y

1. A pipe bowl cleaner comprising two blade members hinged together tiltably, each member including a finger piece extending therefrom beyond the axis of the hinge, and one blade member having a plurality of scraping edges selectively oper ative according to' variations in diameter of the bowl.

2. A pipe bowl cleaner comprising two blade members hinged together tiltably, each member including afinger piece extending therefrom beyond the axis of the hinge, one blade member having a greater number 'of scraping edges than the other.

8. A cleaner as set forth in claim 2 in which one blade member has twice as many scraping edges as the other.

A. A sheet metal pipe bowl cleaner consisting'of two parts, each having a finger piece, the parts being articulated together and acting as levers of the first class, one part having shouldered fulcrum means struck outward therefrom at an angle to the-main part and remote from the edges thereof,- andthe other-part being apertured to receive loosely-and tilt upon said shouldered fulcrum means- I 5'.A pipe bowl cleaner comprising-two tut) parts, eachpartconsisting of a b'lade portherefrom in the same direction and having bearing shoulders extending along the line of connection between the tWo parts, and the other part having openings to receive loosely the studs and to bear against said shoulders, the studs including means to retain the parts in assembled position.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 in Which each stud has two shoulders, all the shoulders being in the same line.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HARRY GESSLER. 

